A Shift in Time
by Sirius Potter2
Summary: Takes place right after the Cell games. How different would life be for Gohan if he had another Saiyan to grow up with? Lots of action, and a strong friendship between Gohan and M. Trunks NOT SLASH! Will also be Gohan/Videl.
1. Chapter 1

A Shift in Time

Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Z, GT, Kai, or anything Dragon Ball.

Set Up: One week after the Cell games. Up tell now nothing has changed from the show. Our episode takes place at the going away party for Mairi Trunks.

Gohan sat alone in the room next to the main hall of Capsule Corps. He could hear shouts of joy, and wishes of good luck in the room next door. Gohan couldn't bring himself to join the party. In fact he didn't even understand how the others could be partying right now. The earths greatest hero of all time was dead, and was never coming back. Everyone simply agreed "That's Goku for you", and seemed to be ok with it.

To Gohan life was over, he found no joy in anything anymore. He didn't train, he refused to study, and what was worse he barely ate! The only time he had a smile on his face was when he spent time with Trunks, he and Gohan had similar lives; they were both half Saiyan, both spend the majority of their lives fighting someone stronger then them, and most importantly they understood each other. Even with the age difference between them they were fast becoming best friends.

Then why wasn't he in the party room wishing his friend good bye? 'I can't loose Trunks too…' Gohan thought to himself, he knew what he had to do.

"Gohan, glad to see you made it!" Trunks said immediately embracing his friend as soon as he walked into the room.

"Listen Trunks, I've been thinking… I'm coming with you, you might need some back up." Gohan replied.

ChiChi who hadn't even noticed that Gohan walked in the room, somehow heard Gohan say he was going into the future to help Trunks, and did what ChiChi does best, she fainted.

"ChiChi, it's ok." Bulma said as she vigorously fanned her friend.

There was so much commotion at the party that Trunks, nor Gohan noticed ChiChi had fainted.

"That's not necessary Gohan…" Trunks said staring down at his friend. Truth be told he was hoping one of the other Saiyans would return with him to back him up.

"Nonsense, it's never a good idea to go into battle alone. Even if it is a couple of tin cans we have to fight." Gohan said laughing at his mocking of Vegeta.

"Thanks Gohan!" Trunks almost yelled pulling his friend into another hug. "Let me say goodbye to my father and then we can leave." Trunks exclaimed as he headed towards the gravity room. Ever since Gohan ascended Vegeta hadn't stopped training, he would not be second best to some brat.

A/N: Well there is the start to my new story, I know I have a few out but I'm still working on plot details for the other two stories. Obviously this is short it's a prologue. Don't worry I have the next chapter done, I just need to proof read it a bit. Going out of town, for a couple days should be done proof reading by the time I get back. Just wanted to post this little teaser. As always please review!


	2. Into the Future

A Shift in Time

Chapter 1: Into the Future

A/N: Thanks to Hyrina, ultimatedragonballzfan, Smckdwn823, Devil Without A Cause, Mandalore18, and bayden hill for your wonderful reviews!

"Well we're here." Trunks said as he pushed open the canopy of his time machine, and opened up the cramped cockpit, and stepping out.

"What already?" Gohan was confused one second they were getting into the time machine, Trunks pressed a couple buttons and poof the next second they were here.

"What did you expect?" Trunks asked laughing at his younger friends confusion.

"I don't know, travel through some sort of vortex or something." Gohan mumbled as he climbed out of the time machine and into the vast wilderness that now surrounded them.

"That's a good one Gohan, come on where not too far away from where my Mom is staying." Trunks said while he capsulated the time machine and blasted off into the sky.

Gohan not wanting to be left behind powered up himself and gave chase to Trunks. They flew at a fairly slow pace for them for a few minutes before the woods started to thin out and they came to the edge of a city in ruins.

Gohan abruptly slammed on his brakes, he had never seen such a mess. Buildings where knocked over across the city. Houses where destroyed, the pavement on the street as all but gone.

"Kami, this is horrible…" Gohan mouthed as he took in what he saw.

"And this is one of the better cities…" Trunks informed him as took in the scenery with an equally sad look. "Come on, I need to check on my mom." Trunks again blasted off towards the center of the city.

Gohan paused for a minute before taking off after Trunks again. 'I can never let this happen in my time' Gohan vowed to himself, he would have to keep training when he returned.

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach their destination, they landed in a deserted part of the city right in the center of a destroyed street.

"Where here" Trunks firmly said, as he walked to a manhole cover on the street and pulled it open and motioned for Gohan to climb down.

Reluctantly Gohan carefully floated down, he didn't want to touch any of the dirty edges of the sewer. Gohan didn't understand it seemed to be a normal sewer, why had Trunks led him here then?

"This way." Trunks motioned as he landed next to Gohan, in the dark and dirty sewer tunnel.

They walked in silence for about a half block when they reached what looked like a service door. Gohan waited in anticipation as Trunks turned the knob on the door.

"Wow!" Gohan exclaimed as Trunks opened, what looked like an underground laboratory.

"We're under ground one of the old Capsule Corp buildings, this was one of their top secret locations. This entrance was actually built before the androids ever existed." Trunks looked around for a bit, he looked a bit worried. "Mom, where are you?" Trunks called out as they left the messy laboratory and entered another room which looked like a small kitchen. "I don't get it, she is always in the lab, or drinking some coffee in the kitchen." Trunks

"Trunks?" A voice called out from another room, and out walked Bulma. A much older Bulma then what Gohan was used too. "Oh Trunks it is you!" She immediately pulled her son into a big hug. "And Gohan?" She asked pulling Gohan into a hug as well, now with tears rolling down her face.

"Mom are you ok? You look different…" Trunks asked, there wasn't much difference in her appearance to Trunks, but she looked paler, she wasn't full of the energy he was used to seeing in her.

"Well a lot can change in six months." She sadly said. "It looks like you have change quite a bit your self…"

"Six months! There must be something wrong with the time machine. I set it to return the day after I left." Trunks angrily exclaimed.

"It's ok Trunks, why don't you give me the capsule and I will run a full diagnostic, and why don't you tell me about everything that happened while you were gone." Bulma asked as she held out her hand for the capsule.

"Ok Mom" Trunks said calming down and handing Bulma the capsule before telling her the story. "Well it all started… (If you don't know the android and Cell saga you should watch those episodes, before reading this)…" It took Trunks a good twenty minutes to explain everything, Gohan adding in some information when needed.

"Oh Trunks that's wonderful, you got to spend some quality time with your father. And you Gohan, I'm so sorry about Goku, and thank you for coming back to help Trunks it means so much to me, and I know it means a lot to him too." Bulma said tearing up a bit some more.

Suddenly Gohan, and Trunks face's went completely pale.

"What, what's wrong?" Bulma asked, sounding very concerned.

"It's Cell! And he's in his second form." Trunks quickly replied

"Cell?" Bulma was confused, how was the horrible creature they just told her about in her time line?

"No time to explain!" Trunks hurriedly answered as he and Gohan raced out of the building, leaving a confused and worried Bulma all alone.

"We have to hurry before he absorbs the other android!" Gohan said while running at inhuman speeds through the underground sewer system.

Trunks nodded, nothing needed to be said between the two. They were in battle mood now. In a matter of seconds they reached the manhole they originally came through. Flashing into Super Saiyans they took off at speeds this time line had never seen before, and straight towards the murderous creature known as Cell.

"OH No!" Trunks yelled as they arrived onto the battle scene. Cell had Android 17 corned and looked like he was about to absorb him.

Moving faster then Trunks could see Gohan kicked Cell away from 17, sending him flying.

"This is your time line Trunks, so who do you want?" Gohan asked very seriously, he meant business.

"I owe 17." Trunks replied equally as serious.

That's all Gohan needed before giving chase to Cell.

"Tell me, how is it you're alive and so young?" Cell's cold voice yelled out as he slowly stood up dusting himself off as he climbed out of the hole Gohan put him in. His cellular memory of course recognizing the warrior in front of him as Son Gohan.

"If you must know I am from the past, I traveled here in a time machine." Gohan answered venomously, he hated the creature in front of him, even if it wasn't his Cell.

"From the past? Tell me are the androids alive back then?" Cell curiously asked, he needed to know incase these two Saiyans managed to destroy 17.

"As a matter of fact no, you absorbed them."

"So I became perfect?" Cell excitedly asked.

"Yes, but I must warn you I destroyed your perfect self." Gohan said now smiling at Cell.

"No! How is that possible?" Cell asked now terrified.

"This is how…" Gohan, let loose his restraints and his power soared, a whirlwind appeared around him as he powered himself up to his maximum in the first level of Super Saiyan. He was going to leave Super Saiyan Two as his trump card, just in case Cell somehow managed to become perfect. 'Wow I am so much stronger in this form since the transformation.' Gohan thought to himself.

"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!" Cell roared, the little runts power dwarfed his own! 'He is about as strong as I calculate I would be if I become perfect, I could still win though…' He thought to himself.

"Scared?" Gohan taunted

"Not at all boy." Cells icy voice replied, he would just have to figure out a way to win. With a vicious roar he powered up as much as he could. "Now just show me what it takes to beat the perfect warrior."

"Perfect? You're far from your perfect self, let me show you." Gohan disappeared out of sight and kicked Cell straight into the air.

Making a sonic boom Gohan blasted off of the earth and flew at Cell at top speed, and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the evil creature all of which were easily connecting. This was the easiest fight of Gohan's life!

"So the prodigal son has returned, tell me Trunks where have you been this past six months, we have been bored with you gone." 17 teased

"I don't see a we, I think that monster over there absorbed your sister." Trunks snapped back

"Hardly, I'll set her free don't you worry." 17 angrily replied he was indeed worried about what happened to his sister.

"Sounds like someone is in denial, but you wont have to worry about that. You will find it will be hard enough to get by me. AHHHHHH!" Trunks yelled as his muscles expanded as he powered up into his falsely ascended Super Saiyan state. He was going to make 17 pay.

"HAHA, give me your best shot." 17 laughed at Trunks growing his muscles, he was obviously not afraid at Trunks display of power. If he could read power levels though, he would be terrified.

Trunks moved as fast his bulked up body would allow punching the Android he had hated his entire life squarely across the face damaging a few circuits in the process. 17 was in shock he had never been punched so hard in his life. How had Trunks gotten so much stronger in six months?

"How does it feel! Huh 17,how does it feel to be at the mercy of someone else's power?" Trunks demanded as he continued to pulverize the android known as 17.

If seventeen was still able to speak he would have answered not good. Unfortunately for 17 the last punch to the face he had received from Trunks had knocked out his vocal processors. 'Just finish me off already!' Seventeen was screaming in his mind. Every blow Trunks landed on him knocked out another one of his functions. If this kept up much longer he would be no better then a rag doll.

Cell was furious! Every attack he made on Gohan was dodged or blocked if only he had been able to become perfect this would have been so much different! "HIYA!" Cell yelled as he attempted to strike Gohan in the face.

Gohan easily blocked Cell's attempt to hit him in the face. Gohan saw this as the perfect time to go back on the offensive. He firmly grabbed Cell by the arm and used it as leverage as he repeatedly kneed him in the stomach.

"TIME TO FINISH YOU OFF!" Gohan yelled as he hurled Cell straight into the Earth with the force of a nuclear rocket, with a shockwave to match.

"KA…ME…HA…ME…" Gohan started to chant as he channeled his power into a massive attack.

Trunks paused his attacks on 17 to watch Gohan finish Cell off, it brought a smile to his face to watch the villainous creature be destroyed. A smile that was quickly wiped off, as 17 someone mustered up the strength to land a swift kick across his face.

"AHH!" Trunks yelled in pain from the attack. It wasn't as if 17 someone became stronger, it hurt so much because he was caught off guard. "You'll pay!" He yelled as he skyrocketed into the air and charged at 17, he caught him with a huge sweeping right hook, and sent him flying!

Gohan paused from releasing his massive Kamehameha attack, there was something flying fast into the direction of Cell's future gravesite, it was an ANDROID 17!

'NO…NO…' Gohan thought as he watched what played out in front of him, it was like a nightmare, in one fluid motion Cell's tail opened up and sucked the unsuspecting android into him.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Gohan roared as he re-gathered up his energy in a attempt to destroy the creature before it could transform.

"BURNING ATTACK!" Mirai Trunks yelled, not oblivious to his mistake.

The two energy attacks shot threw the air seemingly intertwining at blazing speeds, the explosion was tremendous something this timeline had never witnessed. The two young Saiyans watched as time seemed once again to stand still as the dust settled from their explosions. Minutes seemed like hours, but their patience was rewarded the mutated android was no more!

"Gohan! I'm so sorry I almost blew it! But it's over!" Trunks yelled, racing over to his younger friend rejoicing.

"It's ok, I'm just glad we won!" Gohan replied embracing his friend, laughing the whole time.

"What do you say Gohan, should we go home?"

"No one goes home tell I say so!" A now perfect Cell yelled as he appeared out of no where.

Gohan, and Trunks were in shock, they thought they had gotten rid of this monster once and for all, and now he was back and stronger then ever!

"Your friendship is so touching, it's a shame I will have to destroy both of you! Before I begin, I must say thank you for nearly destroying me, it almost worked but one cell managed to survive, and of course because of that I am stronger then I could ever dream off! AHHH!" Cell roared as he pushed his power up, and up causing the earth to shack in the process.

A/N: Ok that's it for now, again thanks for all the reviews on the prologue! I hope to get even more for the real first chapter. Don't worry we will be back to Gohan's correct time line in 1-2 chapters. I have one questions for you guys, what is Mirai Trunk's age? I believe at the end of the Cell games he is 17, plus two more from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber right? Well again please review it means a lot, it really gets me motivated to write. I hope to have the next chapter up they the end of the week!


	3. The only thing worse then Cell

A Shift in Time

Chapter 2: The only thing worse then Cell

Gohan stared at the newly perfect Cell, his power was amazing. Gohan wasn't sure if he was fully powered up or not, but he was already as strong as the Perfect Cell from his time.

"This power its amazing! How does it feel boy to know that you are now obsolete!" Cell roared

"HAAAA!" Gohan yelled as he recalled all of the power he could muster with out transforming to the second level. He was going to try to make Cell pay.

'His power is pretty close to mine, how is this possible?' Cell thought to himself. "Impressive power boy but it isn't enough!" Cell yelled charging Gohan with everything he could muster up.

Gohan managed to block or avoid the first barrage of Cell's attacks, but he was just barely managing to hold out, it wouldn't be long tell Cell landed one, and at this pace it would be all but be over if that happened.

'Time to go on the offensive.' Gohan thought before he rolled out of the way of a right hook from Cell and brought his leg up in a attempt to make contact with Cell's midsection. Gohan was however too slow, and Cell easily grabbed Gohan's leg and used it to hold the speedy young Saiyan in place and rapidity drive his knee into Gohan's abdomen.

"AHH!" Gohan yelled in pain from the pounding Cell was giving him. "Enough!" Gohan yelled as he was able to someone flip over and kick Cell square in the face, knocking the perfect warrior back a few feet.

"Not bad young warrior. I was worried at first when I sensed your power earlier, but thanks to you and Trunks nearly killing me earlier my power is a lot higher then it would have been." Cell truthfully taunted.

"Well this isn't my full strength." Gohan coldly replied

"Really? I would love to see it." Cell shot back, truthfully he was scared, this kid had to be kidding right!

"Just remember you asked for it! AHHHH!" Gohan yelled pushing his power up and up. He was trying to ascend to the next level of Super Saiyan, but something was not working. 'What's going on?' Gohan worriedly thought. Truth be told he hadn't trained a day since the Cell games in his time, he thought it was no big deal since it was only a week ago. Now however he wished he had practiced turning Super Saiyan Two. He had only done it that one time against Cell.

Cell breathed a sigh of relief, all that Gohan had been able to do was regenerate some of the power he had lost from the beating he had received. Cell smiled and charged Gohan, once more.

"No…" Gohan muttered before Cell's fist slammed into his face, nearly knocking him out cold. It was all hazy for Gohan, the only thing he knew was that the perfect warrior Cell was now landing every blow he threw at the defenseless Gohan, and it hurt!

"Hiya!" Cell yelled as he kicked Gohan into a nearby mountain, he started to mercilessly laugh as the mountain collapsed onto the hybrid. "Well this has been fun, really! But I think it is time to move on! KA…ME…HA…" Cell started to chant, he was going to enjoy ending this mighty Super Saiyans life.

Trunks couldn't believe what he was seeing, Gohan was losing, and badly! 'Why hasn't he transformed?' He thought to himself, at first he thought Gohan was playing around, but know it looked like he was going to die. Then it dawned on him 'Maybe that transformation was just a one time thing?'

"ME… What NOO!" Cell couldn't finish his energy attack as he felt a huge power spike behind him, and turned around just in time to see an extremely bulked up Trunks bearing down on him.

Trunks connected with a huge double axe-handle squarely to Cell's head sending him plummeting to the ground below. Trunks was breathing heavily he had just used all his energy to move that fast, while in his twice falsely ascended form he may be strong but his bulked up muscles slowed him down way to much.

"Take this Cell! BURING ATTACK!" Trunks yelled going through the motions he sent his signature attack straight at the perfect warrior.

"HAAA!" Cell shouted back re-gathering the energy from his Kamehameha attack and sending it at Trunks.

The two energy beams collided giving off a massive light show. They remained stalemated for only a second before Cell's energy blast easily began to overtake Trunks'.

"Shit!" Trunks yelled before somehow managing to roll out of the way of the oncoming attacks. 'Wow that was close' Trunks thought as he breathed heavily.

"What an interesting form you have there, I must say your power is nearly as strong as Gohan's. Very curious since earlier you were nothing compared to him. Tell me, are you just as fast too?" Cell mocked before he charged at Trunks, moving at a much slower pace then he previously used to fight Gohan.

Even at the slower pace he was able to punch Trunks right in the face nearly breaking the older warriors neck.

"HAHA, I will take that as a no." Cell mocked as begun to easily beat Trunks like he had Gohan.

Gohan slowly pulled himself out of the mountain and slowly rubbed his head. 'Wow I thought I was dead there. Oh no Trunks!' Gohan thought to himself Trunks had nearly been knocked unconscious by Cell. 'This Cell does not toy around as much as the one from my timeline' Gohan thought to himself. 'I need to be strong again!' Gohan cursed himself.

Gohan closed his eyes and slowly begun to charge his power up. Images from his timeline started to play through his mind, first was the Cell Jr's beating up on his friends, next was Android 16 head being stomped on, and lastly was his father dyeing because Gohan had been so arrogant. "No…no…" Gohan muttered as those images tore through him almost as if they were real, but Gohan knew they weren't. It was no use it wouldn't spark him to transform.

Devastated Gohan slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw horrified him. Cell had Trunks around the throat with one hand lifting him into the air, and with the other he was charging an energy blast.

"NO NOT AGAIN!" Gohan screamed he was going to lose Trunks. "STOOOOOP!" Gohan yelled as he was blindsided by rage, he would not let this happen, not again. "NOT AGAIN!" Gohan yelled again as sparks begun to jump all around him, lightening was forming in the sky, his aura started to violently glow.

"What!" Cell yelled, as he threw Trunk's now limp body to the side as he watched the most terrifying thing in his life, Gohan ascending. "How could this be, I am perfect, he can't be stronger then me!" Cell yelled as could feel Gohan's power skyrocket as he watched Gohan's hair grow slightly longer, and lightening bolts flash around him.

"What do you think Cell? This is what Vegeta, and my dad call an ascended Super Saiyan,. I call it Super Saiyan Two." A confident but in control Gohan said. "And now, it is time for you to die…" Gohan rocketed at Cell easily hitting him into a nearby mountain side. With Cell taking a minute to recover Gohan turned to his injured friend.

"Trunks are you ok?" Gohan asked kneeling on the ground next to Trunks, he could barely feel his power level.

Trunks eyes shot open for a brief second and managed to say two words before collapsing. "Win…FAST!" He emphasized fast before passing out again.

"HAHA, you won't be able to win at all, let alone fast!" A now recovered Cell said in a very unconvincing way, he didn't even believe it.

Cell wasn't one to quit however he flew at Gohan as fast he could with an intent to deliver a devastating ki punch, but he was too outclassed. Gohan's power dwarfed Cell's allowing him to easily dodge Cell's punch and throw his elbow into the back of Cell's neck sending him crashing into the ground, causing the earth to shack and crack on impact.

Gohan jumped away from Cell's crater allowing him some room for Cell's next move.

"NOOOOOO! I AM PERFECT!" Cell yelled as he used his ki to destroy all the rubble around him as he jumped to the air hovering a few feed off of the ground. Cell took a minute to catch his breath, while rubbing the back of his neck. "DIE!" Cell yelled again as he prepared to charge Gohan again.

Unfortunately for Cell he was never able to go on the offensive Gohan fazed in front of Cell and kneed him in the gut causing him to instantly spit up blood. Gohan then punched cell across the face knocking him back a few feet.

"It ends now…" Gohan simply said as he continued his onslaught, he continued to attack Cell but at an increased pace, landing hundreds of hits all over his body nearly rendering him unconscious from the blood loss alone as blood was oozing out of wounds and his mouth. After Gohan felt Cell was sufficiently weakened he grabbed him and threw him as high as he could, launching him nearly a mile up into the air.

"KA…ME…HA…ME…" Gohan started to chant as he begun to channel all of his power reserves into one massive attack. "HAAAA!" He yelled throwing all his power behind an attack made for Cell, the energy blast easily made contact with its target, almost instantly vaporizing every cell in Cell's body.

"Now to make sure you never come back…" Gohan said as he stared at the pool of blood that lay at his feat. "HAAAAA!" He yelled while holding both hands forward releasing raw energy and the ground below him, destroying the last remnants of Cell.

With Cells defeat complete Gohan powered down and wiped a tear away from his face. "I am a monster…" He muttered looking at his hands. Gohan was ashamed and disgusted himself, he just violently and brutally destroyed another living creature, in a way that not even Frieza could comprehend. 'Was I in control?' Gohan thought to himself 'I couldn't make the same mistake again…' His mind continued to trail off. Before Gohan could completely lose himself in thought he was interrupted by Trunks.

"He…lp" Trunks managed to cough out, he was on the verge of death.

Gohan immediately scooped Trunks up, transforming to the second level of Super Saiyan, he flew as fast as he could to Bulma.

It seemed like an eternity but in reality it was under thirty seconds tell he arrived, less then five minutes later Bulma was completing her treatment for her son.

"There that should do it." Bulma said as she flicked an IV bag to make sure it was infusing correctly, they were now in one of her laboratories in her hidden underground base.

"What is in that stuff?" Gohan asked motioning to Trunk's IV bag, he was worried that all Bulma was doing was hooking an IV up to Trunks.

"Oh just a brilliant invention of mine. It is a combination of the stuff from a rejuvenation tank, and Trunks own Saiyan DNA. He will be fully healed in two days." Bulma said very proud of herself for saving her son's life.

"So that is all he needs then?" Gohan asked, not that he didn't believe Bulma he just wanted to be sure.

"Yep, come on let's let him rest." Bulma said as they started to walk out of the medical lab.

"Hey what is this?" Gohan asked as an x-ray caught his eye, picking it up.

"Put that down, it's not Trunks x-ray…" Bulma horrifyingly said.

"Kami… its metastasized… how long have you known… does Trunks know… how long do you have?" Gohan stammered as he set an x-ray picture down with the name Bulma Briefs clearly typed on it.

"He doesn't know…" Bulma said as she burst into tears… "Please take him home with you, when this is all over?" She pleaded of Gohan grabbing him on his shoulders looking into his eyes waiting for an answer.

"Of course" was all that Gohan could say before he pulled Bulma in for a hug and started to cry with her. Bulma had cancer, Gohan would rather fight a thousand Cell's then see Bulma have to fight cancer.

A/N: Ok so Cell is dead for good… Sorry for the looooong wait, but school is finally done for me so I figured I would get back to updating. So please remember to review, leave a comment on the story or offer suggestions…


	4. The Promise

A Shift in Time

Chapter 3: The Promise

"Hey Gohan this pile too!" A man in a hard said gesturing to a large pile of rubble, which was most likely an apartment building.

"You got it boss!" The young hybrid said as he held out his right hand and concentrated hard, sending a ki blast just strong enough to destroy the rubble without hurting the ground it was on.

"Nice shot kid, how about we call it a day? I have to get home to the wife." Gohans new friend said while wiping some sweat off of his brow from the hot summer sun.

"Sounds good to me Jackson." Gohan agreed also wiping some sweet off.

"You have done a lot of good work here kid, thanks. And not just for helping clean this city up but for destroying the androids, I know it was you." Jackson while grabbing Gohan's hand and giving him a firm hand shack.

"Ha…ha…well…" Gohan said scratching the back of his head doing the classic Son grin.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. What do you say same time tomorrow, and we will have this city cleaned up, and the crews can start rebuilding." Jackson said

"You bet, I'll see ya tomorrow." Gohan said as he took off flying high into the sky.

Instead of flying back to the capsule corps underground base he headed to the city outskirts, at a fairly slow pace for himself. He was lost in thought, over how much had happened in the few weeks that he had been in this timeline. Bulma was slowly deteriorating, but it was noticeable. Gohan feared she would not have much time left. Trunks was spending every minute of the day with his mother, which drove Bulma crazy. She was busy working on her final project which wasn't an invention at all, but simply compiling all of her data and inventions into one hard drive for Gohan, and hopefully Trunks to give to the Bulma from the past. Trunks going into the past permanently was something that they argued about constantly. Trunks insisted he had to stay in the future to defend everyone. Bulma argued that the Goku from the past was right to an extent, but it wasn't just about him. If Earth had no strong fighters and no dragon balls then there would be no reason for bad guys from space to come to the mudball known as earth. It was something they argued about constantly, which is why Gohan spent his days helping clean, and rebuild the city.

Trunks and Bulma's argument worried Gohan, he believed her which meant that as long as the Saiyans, and the dragon balls resided on Earth then stronger and stronger fighters would be coming. Gohan knew of no place else he could reside, so that meant he would have to keep his training up to defend the people of earth. Which meant he would have to have an argument with his mother when he got home.

Gohan finally landed in a little clearing a few miles outside of the city, his work day was done, so it was time to train for a few hours before heading back to Capsule Corp for the night.

'Nothing to hard today, I'll just work on my transformation.' Gohan thought to himself. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Gohan yelled as he started to transform into a Super Saiyan 2. "AAAAHHHHHH!" He continued to yell as he finally completed the transformation. His hair now standing strait up, with one lock hanging over his face, and lightening bolts cracked around him.

Gohan suppressed his power a bit to try and preserve the transformation as long as he could. He then sat in a meditative pose that he learned from his Master Mr. Piccolo. Gohan figured staying in this form as long as he could should help him maximize his power like he did with Goku in the hyperbolic time chamber. Unfortunately electronic devices tended to blow up or go on the fritz with long term exposure to a Super Saiyan 2, so he meditated in the form instead of living his everyday life as a Super Saiyan 2.

Gohan had been meditating for about an hour when he felt a strong power approaching from a distance, he smiled as he immediately recognized it as Trunks. Gohan stood up, and reverted back to his base form. It didn't take long for Trunks to arrive and he looked very frustrated.

"I need to spar!" Was all Trunks said before he rushed Gohan and hit him across the face.

Gohan was taken by surprise, he figured Trunks would give him a bit more of a warm up then that, but either way Gohan was here for his friend. He crouched down as the punch hit him in the face and kicked Trunks in the legs to sweep him off his feet, he then fired an energy blast right into Trunks midsection sending him flying back.

"I take it you had another argument with Bulma?" Gohan asked as their exchange ended.

"She doesn't get it!" Trunks yelled as his power level skyrocketed as he transformed into a Super Saiyan. "I can't leave these people defenseless, my mentor would be disappointed in me." Trunks continued as he launched himself at Gohan.

Gohan effortlessly transformed into the first level of his Super Saiyan transformation, and started to block Trunks wild attacks. He was fighting as reckless as Vegeta when he got angry, and that made this spar all too easy.

"You know, she may be right. What will be left for you after she passes?" Gohan asked as he continued to block or dodge all of Trunk's attacks.

"It doesn't matter about what is left for me. If I leave these people then that means I have failed, as this time lines defender!" Trunks roared as he continued his assualt. Punching wildly Trunks was unable to make contact on any significant part of Gohans body.

"How can you think you failed? You destroyed the Androids! There is nothing left to fight here." Gohan argued as he caught Trunks fist as he threw a wild punch. He then grabbed Trunks other arm leaving him defenseless. Gohan then drove his knee repeadiatly into Trunks stomach leaving him gasping for air.

As Trunks was bent over trying to catch his breath, Gohan punched him as hard as he could knocking him to the ground, and knocking him out of his Super Saiyan transformation.

"Don't come to me for a spar like this again, your mind isn't right." Gohan said as he blasted off back towards capsule corporation.

Trunks sat on the ground utterly surprised at how bad Gohan had just defeated him. 'It couldn't have all been my technique?' He thought to himself, then said outloud "I need to start training again." With that Trunks picked himself up off of the ground and blasted off after Gohan.

Meanwhile Gohan had just landed at Capsule Corps headquarters to find Bulma sitting outside quietly sobbing to herself. When she noticed Gohan land next to her she wiped a few tears off of her face and smiled at him. "Don't forget your promise" She said very determinedly, Gohan just nodded and allowed Bulma to continue. "All I want to is for him to be happy." She said as she started to cry some more.

Gohan looked up as he felt Trunks power directly above them as he landed next to Gohan. Trunks proceeded to sit next to Bulma to try and consol her.

"Mom, Gohan helped me open my eyes to a couple things. I'm going to give you some space to let you finish up your project. Not too much though…" He said with a slight smile before he continued "I will train for a couple hours a day, and maybe help Gohan clean up the city for a couple hours a day." Bulma squeezed Trunks hand in agreement as he continued. "And lastly I will follow your last wish and go back in time with Gohan, when… when you pass."

"Oh Trunks!" Bulma exclaimed as she pulled her son into a tight hug. "I am so glad you're agreeing to do this, I made Gohan promise to knock you out and drag you into the past with him if you refused." Bulma said laughing at this.

Trunks glared at Gohan, who just gave his classic Son grin and said "Well… I was hoping it wouldn't come to that" Gohan said also laughing.

The months went on, and just like Trunks promised he would train with Gohan for a couple hours a day and help clean up Earth's greatest cities. Because of this Capsule Corp was a happy household for some time. Bulma's cancer seemed to regress a little, as she was revived with new energy, she was happy, she now accepted her fate. Unfortunataly the cancer didn't actually regress, it was spreading, and now six months since the two hybrid Saiyans returned to the past Bulma was on her death bed.

Trunks was sitting beside his mothers bed, like he had been for the past 24 hours keeping his mother comfortable, administering medications as Bulma had instructed him too.

"Trunks… get Gohan I need to talk to him one last time…" She whispered to his son, in a rare moment of alertness.

Trunks jumped out of his chair and went to go fetch Gohan who was just in the other room. "She's asking for you…" Trunks said as Gohan got up to follow Trunks back into Bulma's bedroom.

"Gohan, you're like a second son to me, I love you so much." She said as she motioned for Gohan to give her a hug, which he did. "I want you to give this to your mother, she said handing Gohan a thick envelope. It contains the contents of what remains in my bank account, as well as a letter explaining why you were gone for six months."

"But Bulma, we can just return the day after we left, cant we? And the money what about Trunks?" Gohan asked confused.

"Because you have grown so much, and have spent so much time in the future, I would feel safer if you returned to your time line about the same number of months you spent here. Don't worry about the money, my counterpart in the past has much more then this for her family. I don't want your mom to have to worry about money for some time." She said with a smile, she knew her time was done.

"Trunks, you are my pride and joy, you're my hero… You made my life worth living, please have a long and happy life…" She said as she squeezed her son's hand affectionately, as her life force vanished.

Bulma Briefs was dead.

A/N: Ok I know this was rushed a bit, but I wanted to get everyone back to the correct timeline. Prepare for a jump ahead a couple years in the next chapter, I will give a brief summery of what went on in that time.


	5. Another Shift

A Shift in Time

Chapter 4: Another Shift

A/N: Thanks for the reviews from the last chapter, keep them coming about half way done with the next chapter.

It had been six years since Gohan, and Mairi Trunks had returned to the past. At the time that they returned Chi Chi was living with the Briefs as she was going through a hard Saiyan pregnancy without anyone else at the house. She and Bulma were terrified that Gohan would never return, that perhaps he died in the future. Vegeta however flat out told them it was not possible and that the boy would return simply for the fact that he was the only other Saiyan warrior left, and Vegeta needed a sparring partner.

When Trunks and Gohan returned with sad looks on their faces everyone feared the worse, and their fears were confirmed when they told them the news. Chi Chi was furious that her son would make her worry like this, but it was all forgiven when Chi Chi read the letter Bulma had written. It explained how much of help he was, and the physical reasons as to why she told them to choose this date to come back too. As well as reminding Chi Chi how much Gohan is like Goku, and to remember that and to trust him.

For Gohan the past six years of peace had been good to him. He enjoyed life, he trained hard every day. Mairi, which Trunks was known as now came over on almost a daily basis and they sparred. Gohan would spend the majority of a day almost every week with Piccolo training to make his base form stronger, which they believed would only increase the power he had in his transformations, as well as working on his mind. Gohan would also have an intense spar against Vegeta every so often; Vegeta was not fun to spar with so it was only every couple of months that they would test each other's limits out. Vegeta in the past year had achieved the second level of Super Saiyan, and because of this could push Gohan harder than anyone. Gohan silently knew he was still vastly stronger then Vegeta, but would always fight him at Vegeta's max, because of this both were almost killed each time they fought, Vegeta had the experience, while Gohan had the reserves to keep rejuvenating himself, and neither one was willing to lose.

It had taken Gohan a couple of months to help Chi Chi see the "light" and let him train most of the day. It was because of Gohan's love of learning, and showing Chi Chi that he still studied advanced subjects on a nightly basis that she allowed it, that and the exams she forced him to take every once in a while to prove that he wasn't falling behind, which he wasn't.

For Mairi the first couple of months had been tough on him, but with his daily training sessions with Vegeta and Gohan, and the love that his second mother gave him Mairi pulled through it. He had yet failed to reach the second level of Super Saiyan but that didn't mean his power hadn't increased dramatically, he was the third most powerful warrior on the planet, with Piccolo a close forth.

It was a warm sunny afternoon in the 439 mountain distract. Two teenagers were lying very close together on the grassy shores of a small lake. One of them is a young man seventeen years of age, well built; almost every visible muscle on his body was perfectly sculpted, nearly six feet tall when standing. The other teenager is a young woman just over sixteen years old she had a petite frame, but with enough curves to catch the eye of any man. She was noticeably shorter than the man. Their heads were touching as their lips were interlocked, but her feet just went down to just his shins.

"Yuck! When will you two learn not to do this in the open!" A third man said as he descended from the air to land next to the two teenagers deep in a make out session. He looked to be about 25 years of age; he had purple hair that he let grow just past his ears.

The two teenagers jumped apart and blushed in embarrassment. "Hehe sorry Mairi" Gohan said scratching the back of his head giving his famous Son grin. "But come on couldn't you sense Lime was here with me?" He said as he put his arm around his girlfriend.

Gohan and Lime had been seeing each other for almost a year now things were progressing very very slowly. Gohan being sheltered most of his life didn't even now they were dating tell six months into their relationship, he didn't even learn how to kiss tell a couple months after that, when Lime finally got fed up and taught Gohan.

"It is ok I should be getting back to grandpa's shop anyway." Lime said politely

"Ok, I will fly you back." Gohan said glaring at Mairi as he said this.

"Before you two take off, I have a message for you Gohan. Apparently there is some sort of emergency at the lookout I was sent to gather everyone up, and you're the last one so hurry up." Trunks said knowingly.

"Alright… I'll be there in five minutes" Gohan said as Mairi took off.

Lime knew the truth about Gohan, obviously she recognized him when she was watching the Cell games as the boy who saved her from the river. Gohan updated her on the highlights of his life shortly after that, leaving out the gory details.

"I can walk myself home, sounds like you're needed" Lime said

"Nonesense" Gohan said as he scooped her up and took off at a speed Lime would be able to tolerate back to her grandfathers store. "I don't know what is going on, I don't know how long this will take." Gohan said as he landed.

"That's fine, I will wait for you, stay safe." She worriedly said and pulled him in for another kiss.

"I will…" Gohan said as he pulled away and took to the skies. Blasting off at top speed, when he was a safe distance away from the village.

It didn't take long for Gohan to reach the lookout; Mairi was right about everyone being there. Mairi, Vegeta, Piccolo, 18, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, even young Trunks, and Goten were even present, something big was going on Gohan figured.

"I am glad you all made it…" Dende stated "New Namek is under attack, by a small army of Saiyans…" He flatly added

"Absurd!" Vegeta shouted "They boys and I are the only Saiyan warriors alive."

"I wish this was true. I just got a mental call for help from my brothers on New Namek, there is roughly 200 Saiyans invading, looking for the Dragon Balls. They also sent me a disturbing image that I will share with you." Dende said as he closed his eyes and used his telepathic powers to show everyone an image of a large burly Saiyan with muscles on top of muscles. There were also several other Saiyans surrounding him of various shapes and sizes. "I am told that he is claiming to be the legendary Super Saiyan." Dende added

"Do any of these men look familar to you Vegeta?" Piccolo's gruff voice asked.

"It cannot be, he should not be alive…" Vegeta stammered

"Who shouldn't father?" Mairi asked

"This is my concern I am the Prince of all Saiyans, I will take care of this." Vegeta said blasting off towards Capsule Corporation.

"We better follow him." Gohan said to Mairi before adding "Are you coming Piccolo?"

"Yea…" Was all Piccolo said before chasing after Vegeta.

"Wait… wont you need everyone's help, there is an army!" Dende worriedly stated.

"No…" Gohan paused knowing he would sound like Vegeta and said "This is a matter between Saiyans and Nameks. Krillin take Trunks and Goten to my house until we are off of the planet, I can't have them tagging along." Gohan didn't wait for a response as he, and Mairi took to the sky.

"Why… I thought this was a matter between Saiyans and Nameks…" Krillin sarcastically said. Only to be greeted by a slap to the back of his head by wife.

"None of us here could lay a hand on Gohan if he didn't want us too; he only said that for your safety mister!" 18 said lecturing her husband.

"Sometimes I think you have a crush on Gohan with the way to talk about him all the time." Krillin mumbled after his wife lectured him.

"Humph, maybe I do…" She paused to further tease her husband. "Come on boys you heard Gohan" 18 said corralling the two younger boys.

"No we're Saiyans we should be allowed to go!" Trunks argued… "Yay big brother might need our help!" Goten added, the two tried to take off and follow Gohan but 18 got a hand on both of their legs and hauled them back down to the ground. It took a good amount of strength as both boys were extremely powerful.

18 looked at Krillin and further teased "I married you though, because Saiyan children are just too tiring." She laughed as she continued to struggle with the two pint size powerhouses.

By the time Gohan and Mairi arrived at Capsule Corporation a Capsule space ship was in the back yard, Dr. Briefs tinkering away on it, Bulma trying to help but was having a hard time with Vegeta yelling at her.

"Women this thing has to be ready to go now!" and "Damn Earth technology we can't spare four days to get to New Namek!" Vegeta continued to berate Bulma into finishing the ship so he could take off.

"About time you boys made it! We're leaving in five minutes." Vegeta said as the Gohan and Mairi landed next to Prince Vegeta.

"Well Vegeta if you are sure you don't want the gravity machine installed, you can take off any time." Dr. Briefs said as he stepped away from the spaceship.

"We don't need a blasted gravity machine; we need to go now, before all is lost." Vegeta said solemnly surprising everyone.

"Vegeta what are you so worried about? Surely we can handle a group of ordinary Saiyans." Gohan added

"I fear they are being lead by the legendary Super Saiyan. A Saiyan none of us will be able to stand up too. I don't know why I am such a hurry to die…" Vegeta added the last part in very quietly. (A/N: This is not out of character if everyone will remember how he acted in the first Brolly movie)

No one understood Vegeta's behavior, not even Gohan who knew Vegeta the longest had seen the proud warrior act like this.

"We will make them bow to you, my prince" Gohan said putting his large hand on Vegeta's back

"Don't patronize me boy…" Vegeta warningly barked at Gohan

"I'm not, I think it makes the most since. I have no desire to kill a whole army. I think if we remind them who their ruler is, we can avoid a lot of needless death." Gohan said basically telling everyone his plan.

"You're too soft to be a true Saiyan warrior, but we can try your plan." Vegeta replied, he once again wanted to rule his people.

"ENOUGH TALK! Board the ship, I need to save my people." Piccolo barked as he stood up from his meditative position in the corner.

Four long days in space had passed; tensions were high between Earth's four greatest warriors. The ship which was the exact same size that carried Goku to Namek all those years ago, was just too small for the four powerful warriors.

All four were gathered in the main room, Vegeta, and Piccolo were standing on opposite sides of the room with their backs to the wall. Mairi and Gohan were sitting on the floor trying to pass the time by, while playing a game of cards. They were only hours away from New Namek, everyone could sense the powers on the planet. There were a half dozen that could rival Goku when he first transformed into a Super Saiyan, and nearly a hundred others that had to be close to Captain Ginyu level.

'This doesn't seem right, I find it hard to believe that one of these powers belongs to the legendary Super Saiyan' Gohan thought to himself, before his thought was finished the ships control panel started to beep indicating an incoming transmission, and Bulma's voice boomed over the speakers.

"Earth is being invaded! Trunks says there is at least thirty high powers attacking. It is all over the news. Hold on… what?..." Bulma paused as she was obviously talking to someone else in the room. "Trunks… Trunks says that six of the powers are much stronger than his (Trunks just turned into a SSJ) and one that is stronger than anything he has ever felt…"

"Damn it! Trunks this is your father speaking get your mother to the lookout as fast as you can, without raising your power level. They have scouters that can detect higher than average power levels." Vegeta ordered

"But dad, I need to fight!" Trunks voice could be heard arguing.

"You will not disobey me!" Vegeta roared

Gohan ran up next to Vegeta by the microphone for communication. "Before you go Bulma, is there any way you can patch me to my mother's house?" Gohan worriedly asked

Bulma didn't need to answer she just transferred Gohan to his home telephone which begun to ring.

At Gohan's house chaos was going on outside, Goten who was not yet a Super Saiyan was outside trying to defend his house from three Saiyan attackers, all equal to him in strength but far superior to him in skill.

Chi Chi was huddled in a corner praying for Goku to return to them and save them. When the phone started to ring, Chi Chi was too paralyzied in fear to answer, but something told her too. She sprinted to the phone… "Hello…" She was able to stammer…

"Mom, is everything ok?" Gohan asked from across the universe.

"No… we are under attack, they have your brother outmatched…" Chi Chi paused as she heard Goten screem "GOHAN! WHERE ARE YOU WE NEED YOUR HELP!"

Gohan could hear his brothers scream, he turned away from the communication device, a look of furry on his face. "You guys go to Namek, and save them. I can handle Earth."

'Damn it dad, why aren't you hear!' Gohan cursed in his mind at his absent father. "I hope this works" Gohan said out loud as he placed two fingers on his forehead, as he attempted to do something he never tried before.

After a few moments there was a loud "Pop" and Gohan vanished.

A/N: Well I hope you all remember what that line is from that Goten yelled. I think it is the best line Krillin ever said, of course he was calling for Goku not Gohan. Remember review, gladly take all suggestions, while I have had the plot written since I first started this story I am always willing to add something.


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